{"id":32664,"date":"2026-07-27T17:55:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T15:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/?post_type=project&#038;p=32664"},"modified":"2026-07-27T17:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T15:56:08","slug":"cropcast","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/","title":{"rendered":"Cropcast"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><span>Objectives<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><span><strong>The project aims to develop and validate a prototype quantitative agro-climate risk indicator<\/strong> for the maize, soft wheat, coffee and sunflower seed markets, reaching Technology Readiness Level 7.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><span>The project is structured into five work packages:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul data-spread=\"false\">\n<li><span>collection and post-processing of satellite and meteorological reanalysis data;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>development of a weather forecasting framework with a 12\u201318-month horizon;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>identification of clusters and forecasting scenarios;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>development of agro-climate indices;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>development and validation of the prototype indicator using data from 2022 to 2025.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><span>The project is expected to last 11 months.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span>Initial Challenge<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><span>Companies operating in the agri-food sector are <strong>highly exposed to volatility in agricultural commodity prices. <\/strong><\/span><span>Existing forecasting tools are largely based on qualitative methodologies, including surveys and on-site assessments. They are generally updated no more than once a month and are not directly linked to weather forecasts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><span>There is also a lack of forecasting capabilities that can incorporate global weather outlooks over a sufficiently long time horizon. As a result, companies often lack timely and effective risk-mitigation strategies.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span>Solution<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><span>To address this challenge, the project develops a prototype agro-climate risk indicator that integrates AI-generated seasonal weather forecasts with the fundamental production drivers of agricultural commodities. <\/span><span>The indicator estimates, up to 12\u201318 months in advance, the probability that critical weather and climate thresholds with a potential impact on prices will be exceeded.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><span>The solution:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul data-spread=\"false\">\n<li><span><strong>uses<\/strong> satellite datasets, meteorological reanalysis data and global agro-climate indicators;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><strong>applies<\/strong> clustering algorithms to identify reference scenarios;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><strong>employs<\/strong> a hybrid deep learning architecture combining a recurrent module for trends and seasonality with a decision-tree-based module for non-linear relationships.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><span>The indicator is validated against real-world data from 2022 to 2025 for the Italian market.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span>Benefits<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><span>CropCast delivers measurable benefits for all stakeholders exposed to agro-climate risk:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul data-spread=\"false\">\n<li><span><strong>timely, quantitative and potentially real-time<\/strong> forecasts and indicators, offering greater accuracy than existing tools;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><strong>the ability to anticipate the impact<\/strong> of weather conditions on prices, with updates available as frequently as daily;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><strong>improved purchasing and sales decisions<\/strong> across the entire agri-food supply chain;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><strong>support for more accurate hedging<\/strong> strategies to manage price volatility;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><strong>new opportunities<\/strong> for financial, banking and insurance operators, including credit ratings and parametric insurance products;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><strong>increased resilience and competitiveness<\/strong> across the agri-food sector.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span>IFAB\u2019s Role<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><span>IFAB played a dual role in the project:<strong> as a funder,<\/strong> selecting CropCast within its research and innovation investment programmes for its scientific and practical value, and as a<strong> technical partner<\/strong> actively contributing to the development of the artificial intelligence methodologies underlying the agro-climate risk indicator.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><span>From a technical perspective, IFAB\u2019s contribution covered the project\u2019s entire methodological framework.\u00a0<\/span><span>The data foundation was built by harmonising satellite datasets, reanalysis data and global agro-climate indicators, and integrating them with seasonal weather forecasts generated by artificial intelligence models over a 12\u201318-month horizon. <\/span><span>Clustering algorithms were then applied to identify reference scenarios and interpret the variability of agro-climate conditions across the maize, wheat, coffee and sunflower markets.\u00a0<\/span><span>At the core of the system is a<strong> hybrid deep learning architecture<\/strong> that combines a recurrent module for capturing trends and seasonality with a decision-tree-based module for modelling non-linear relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\"><span>Participation in CropCast enabled Fondazione IFAB to strengthen its expertise at the intersection of climate forecasting, time-series modelling and financial risk analysis in commodity markets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For further information, please contact: <\/span><a href=\"mailto:projects@ifabfoundation.org\"><span>projects@ifabfoundation.org<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":32663,"parent":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categoria-project":[248],"class_list":["post-32664","project","type-project","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categoria-project-agritech"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cropcast - IFAB International Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cropcast - IFAB International Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Objectives The project aims to develop and validate a prototype quantitative agro-climate risk indicator for the maize, soft wheat, coffee and sunflower seed markets, reaching Technology Readiness Level 7. The project is structured into five work packages: collection and post-processing of satellite and meteorological reanalysis data; development of a weather forecasting framework with a 12\u201318-month...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IFAB International Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ifabinternationalfoundation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-27T15:56:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/img-Cropcast.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/project\\\/cropcast\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/project\\\/cropcast\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cropcast - IFAB International Foundation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/project\\\/cropcast\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/project\\\/cropcast\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/img-Cropcast.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-27T15:55:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-27T15:56:08+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/project\\\/cropcast\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/project\\\/cropcast\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/project\\\/cropcast\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/img-Cropcast.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/img-Cropcast.webp\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/project\\\/cropcast\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/home\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Progetti\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/projects-archive\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Cropcast\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"IFAB International Foundation\",\"description\":\"IFAB - International Foundation Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Human Development - aims to be an independent international point of reference for the scientific and cultural debate on sustainability and new science.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"IFAB International Foundation\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/logo_IFAB.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/logo_IFAB.svg\",\"width\":164,\"height\":61,\"caption\":\"IFAB International Foundation\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ifabfoundation.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ifabinternationalfoundation\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/ifabfoundation\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/ifabfoundation\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCs1JKEd349GbcLv-Zo-XGhg\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cropcast - IFAB International Foundation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cropcast - IFAB International Foundation","og_description":"Objectives The project aims to develop and validate a prototype quantitative agro-climate risk indicator for the maize, soft wheat, coffee and sunflower seed markets, reaching Technology Readiness Level 7. The project is structured into five work packages: collection and post-processing of satellite and meteorological reanalysis data; development of a weather forecasting framework with a 12\u201318-month...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/","og_site_name":"IFAB International Foundation","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ifabinternationalfoundation\/","article_modified_time":"2026-07-27T15:56:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/img-Cropcast.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/","name":"Cropcast - IFAB International Foundation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/img-Cropcast.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-27T15:55:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-27T15:56:08+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/img-Cropcast.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/img-Cropcast.webp","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/project\/cropcast\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Progetti","item":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/projects-archive\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Cropcast"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/","name":"IFAB International Foundation","description":"IFAB - International Foundation Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Human Development - aims to be an independent international point of reference for the scientific and cultural debate on sustainability and new science.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/#organization","name":"IFAB International Foundation","url":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo_IFAB.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo_IFAB.svg","width":164,"height":61,"caption":"IFAB International Foundation"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ifabinternationalfoundation\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ifabfoundation\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ifabfoundation\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCs1JKEd349GbcLv-Zo-XGhg"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/32664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/32664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"categoria-project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifabfoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categoria-project?post=32664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}